2016 F1 world champion Nico Rosberg has warned Lewis Hamilton that his poor qualifying type might make his Ferrari stint “a painful journey”.
Hamilton endured a troublesome remaining 12 months with Mercedes, significantly on Saturdays.
George Russell got here out on high within the qualifying head-to-head, successful 19-5 towards Hamilton.
It’s solely the second time in Hamilton’s F1 profession that he’s misplaced out in a qualifying head-to-head to a teammate – the primary time was towards Rosberg in 2016.
Talking on the Sky F1 podcast, Rosberg defined why his ex-teammate might be involved about his one-lap tempo heading into subsequent 12 months.
“Particularly going ahead now. He has two years at Ferrari. He’ll 100 per cent be anxious – what if this type of mine continues?” Rosberg mentioned.
“Was it simply the automobile, Mercedes? Or was it one thing else? What if this type of mine continues to Ferrari? If it does, it could be actually fairly a painful journey as a result of that’s not what Ferrari employed him for.
“Ferrari employed him to be on a degree with Leclerc and struggle for world championships. I believe he might be very anxious about that.
“We will solely hope he finds again to his good previous self with a reset at Ferrari and he’s as soon as once more the good driver that we all know.”
Hamilton’s type “weighing on his shoulders”
Hamilton’s run of poor performances in qualifying on the finish of the 12 months left him despondent.
It even led to a outstanding admission from him that he’s merely not fast sufficient.
Whereas Hamilton stays up there as one of many “easiest” in race tempo, his poor qualifying shows are giving him an excessive amount of work to do.
“The issue with our sport is that when you don’t qualify excessive up, you actually battle,” Rosberg added. “Though he nonetheless appears to be at his very, easiest in race tempo.
“We’ve seen again and again his race tempo is simply insanely sturdy. While you qualify poorly on a regular basis, nearly, and he says it himself – he’s simply not fast sufficient in qualifying.
“That’s one thing that was weighing on his shoulders on the finish of the 12 months as a result of while you get crushed race in, race out out of your teammate who’s youthful however, let’s bear in mind, not a world champion. He’s only a four-time race winner.
“We insiders, we all know that Russell is good, however there are nonetheless some query marks as a result of he’s not a world champion. While you get crushed all the time – and within the case of Lewis, who’s statistically the GOAT – that’s actually powerful.”
